Modified Authenticity:
A Sentence Corpus and Grammar Search Tool for L2 Beginners
Kiyomi Kathryn
CHUJO OGHIGIAN
Nihon University
Waseda University
Situation & Problem
https://www.ets.org/s/toeic/pdf/ww_data_report_unlweb.pdf
TOEIC
2014
Chujo, K., Yokota, K., Hasegawa, S. & Nishigaki, C. 2012. Identifying the General English Proficiency and Distinct Grammar Proficiency of Remedial Learners.
Journal of the College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University 45: 43-54.
Japanese students are failing to
master basic grammar in junior and
senior high school.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun
2015年7月22日
Possible Solution
(Cobb & Boulton, 2015; Mizumoto & Chujo, 2015
L2 Grammar
L2
vocabulary
Data-Driven Learning (DDL)
+
Corpus
(language data )
Corpus Tool
(search software)
Reality of DDL
used mainly for advanced level learners
Our Target Learners: Remedial Level
What How
to improve understanding of basic grammar items taught in secondary school
using DDL
(Weber, 2001; Takanashi, 2009; Leńko-Szymańska & Boulton, 2015)
Who university students scoring TOEIC 300 or below, or CEFR A1, A2 level
Why typical Japanese student
6 years of EFL
low production (remedial level)
+ =
Using DDL for Remedial Learners
First Challenge
lack of an appropriate level corpus
?
Using DDL for Remedial Learners
Second Challenge
lack of an easy (and free) to use
search corpus tool
New Corpus + Tool
Sentence Corpus of Remedial English
SCoRE
SCoRE (corpus) + GPPS (tool)
Step 1: Measuring Target Level
= up to U.S. school grades 4 and 5
using
reading grade level word familiarity level
For a more in-depth investigation of these indices, see Chujo et al. 2007, 2011.
Step 2: Compiling Source Data
A 30-million-word database was created from
American reading textbooks English graded readers
English textbooks used in Asia
Web-based children’s news articles
Step 3: Targeted Grammar
JHS SHS
1 Possessive pronouns (47%) 1 Subjunctives (79%) 2 Plural forms of nouns (44%) 2 Relatives (61%)
3 Present perfect (43%) 3 Prepositions (60%) 4 Indirect questions (42%) 4 Negation (61%)
5 Passive (41%) 5 Conjunctions (50%) 6 Negation (37%) 6 Auxiliaries (45%) 7 Existential phrase (34%) 7 Gerunds (39%)
8 Tense (34%) 8 Adverbs (38%)
(based on Chujo, et al. 2012)
Step 4: Extracting Target Grammar
Grammatical Pattern High Frequency Words
1 Subjunctive past
were, went, wanted, knew, got, came, lived, tried, found, made, thought
2 Subjunctive wish could, were, had, would, knew
3 Relative patterns a person who, a man who, someone who, a thing that, a woman who
4 Passive voice verbs got, been, seen, gone, done, come, made, given, lost, changed
Step 5: Evaluating the Corpus Data
Examples of source database sentences
Examples of SCoRE sentences
I wish I could tell them what I know, as they walked across the courtyard, raising small clouds of dust with every step.
I wish you were nearby so I could tell you that I did find a man to mate.
I wish I could tell you how it happened.
I wish I could tell you, but I just don’t know.
Step 6: Creating English Sentences
Example sentences for the passive voice using called.
Beginner/Remedial
(8 words or less)
Intermediate
(5-11 words)
Advanced
(9+ words)
What is it called? What will their next CD be called?
The American School in Japan is usually called ASIJ.
My youngest son is called Bob.
My little brother was called Tommy by his friends.
Over the years he had been called many names.
What is your dog called?
A gardenia is called a
“kuchinashi” in Japanese.
She has been called a genius by her
contemporaries.
Step 7: Japanese Translations
Beginner/Remedial
He is the man (whom) I love. 彼は私が愛する男性です。
She is the woman (whom) I married. 彼女は私が結婚した女性です。
Intermediate These are the people (whom) I call my
family. こちらは私が家族と呼んでいる人たちです。
These are all the students (whom) I invited to my house.
こちらはすべて私の家に招待した生徒たち です。
Advanced These are the candidates (whom) I
supported in the last election.
これらの方々は前回の選挙で私が支持した 候補者です。
They are the engineers (whom) our company hired to repair the damage.
彼らはわが社が故障を直すために雇った技 術者たちです。
SCoRE (English ver.)
SCoRE (Japanese ver.)
Concordance (KWIC)
Concordance (Sentence)
Fill-in-the-Blank Quiz
Download (Choosing Levels)
Downloaded EXCEL sheet
Availability
http://score.lagoinst.info/
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by a Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research
(25284108) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture.
